Yunfeng Nie selected as FWO senior postdoctoral research fellow for lab-on-chip detection

B-PHOT researcher Yunfeng Nie was selected as senior postdoctoral research fellow by Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) for her research in lab-on-chip detection to contribute to the early diagnosis or screening of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

This FWO funding will support Yunfeng for a three-year independent research to develop a super-sensitive fluorescence lab-on-chip detection prototype enabled by computational imaging and freeform optics. The novelty here lies in the concrete combination of freeform optical design with digital image processing algorithms, hence an opto-digital co-design strategy.

This new design method reduces the bulky, multi-stacked opto-mechnical components by using highly developed computing power, aiming for low-cost biomedical detection optical systems in general. The success of this project will pave the way for point-of-care early diagnosis or screening of many fatal diseases (e.g. Alzheimer's disease).

The senior postdoctoral fellowships from FWO are intended to support researchers who have completed their PhD a few years ago, in developing an independent, international research career.

“I am so thrilled to receive the funding", says Yunfeng. "This is a big encouragement to me, and a big milestone for my research career. Thanks to my mentors and my colleagues who helped me through the whole application process. I believe opto-digital co-design is a very meaningful field that could revolutionize classic optical design in many ways."